1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system for providing an automotive vehicle with a correct blend of base and additive fuel stocks.
2. Disclosure Information
As governmental regulations pertaining to automotive exhaust emissions become ever more stringent, it is becoming necessary to provide fuels which are adapted to a particular vehicle being refueled. For example, it may be necessary to provide more highly oxygenated fuels to certain vehicles. With diesel engines, and other types of engines, it may be necessary to provide enriched fuels or auxiliary fluids such as water-borne urea additives which would, for example, be placed in a separate tank of a vehicle, so as to be available for an aftertreatment process within a vehicle's catalytic control system.
Another factor affecting fueling in the future will be the use of fuel cells which cannot operate with fuel additives such as detergents and anti-wear additives for fuel pump protection which are necessary for diesel and gasoline engines.
As a result of the varying fuel needs presented by future model vehicles, it would likely be necessary to burden the fuel infrastructure with the need to distribute many different types of blended fuels. However, a system according to the present invention avoids the need for distributing various types of blended fuels by providing a base fuel and additive system.
Another problem with requiring different types of fuels is that improper fueling becomes a possibility. It may be difficult for future consumers to know and specify exactly what fuel is needed for a vehicle. A system according to the present invention overcomes this problem.
Finally, in the event that an automotive emission control system has adaptable controls so that, for example, a change in the efficiency of the control system may be corrected through the use of a fuel having a specific additive, it is desirable to be able to communicate this change in the fueling need of the vehicle to the fueling station. A system according to the present invention accomplishes this need.
Although the Mobil Oil Corporation currently has an electronic transponder device which communicates with a fuel pump so as to identify the holder of a fuel or other type of credit card, no information is communicated regarding the fueling needs of the vehicle.